Wednesday, December 1, 2010

As you know by now when you marry the girl you get the family. I understand this since I have married 3 times and now have a very large extended family! Thai family's are like most Asian family's very close, loyal and have a very good work ethic. In the United States the Asian community has the highest percentage of college graduates of all peoples in the United States. Family first is the Asian community way and I think the rest of us Americans can learn a very good lesson from this example.

My new Thai family is mostly in Thailand were it is very hard to make a living. We have so much here in America and we have to be the luckiest people on the planet.

Noom, Jeep & Nam (Nang's brother & family).

Nang & I spent most of the time with Noom's family in his remodeled home. When you spend everyday with a family (even though I do not speak the language) you really get to know them very well. I have so much respect for this family and all of the wonderful Thai people I met while I was in Thailand.

Noom is solid as a rock, a great friend!

Jeep is just wonderful and always working with a smile!

Nam is a model daughter, with her perfect school grades and the head of her class. She received a $30.00 gift for her hard work at school. When she got home she gave it to her mom & dad to help with the bills. She works as hard as the mom & dad at school & helping the family at home.

Thail people work hard everyday just to get by. When this family has work to do they do not stop until the work is completed. The return is about 1 dollar an hour on some days but most a little less.

Loy Krathong is held on the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November.

"Loy" means "to float". "Krathong" is a raft about a handspan in diameter traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk (although modern-day versions use specially made bread and may use styrofoam), decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, incense sticks etc. The reason for using breads to make a raft is to protect the environment. Since having many rafts in the river can create a huge water pollution problem. Bread will eventually become food for fish and other animals in the river. Even though banana leaves are biodegradable, it takes longer time to be degraded than a bread. Therefore, bread is the most environmental friendly choice to make a raft.

During the night of the full moon, many people will float a small raft on a river. Thai people believe that floating a raft in the river is to honor and pay respect to the Goddess of Water. Also floating a raft in the river is to apologize to the Goddess of the Water for the bad things we have done to the river during the past year. That is why Long Krathong festival is held at the end of the year. Governmental offices, corporations and other organizations also build much bigger and more elaborate rafts, and these are often judged in contests. In addition, fireworks and beauty contests take place during the festival.Letting a Khom Fai float in to the air at the Loy Kratong festival in Mae JoThousands of Khom Fai in Mae Jo

According to the writings of H.M. King Rama IV in 1863, the originally Brahmanical festival was adapted by Buddhists in Thailand as a ceremony to honour the original Buddha, Siddhartha Guatama. Apart from venerating the Buddha with light (the candle on the raft), the act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of all one's grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot. People will also cut their fingernails and hair and add them to the raft as a symbol of letting go of the bad parts of oneself. Many Thai believe that floating a krathong will create good luck, and they do it to honor and thank the Goddess of Water, Phra Mae Khongkha (พระแม่คงคา).

The beauty contests that accompany the festival are known as "Noppamas Queen Contests". According to legend, Noppamas was a consort of the Sukothai king Loethai (14th century) and she was the first to float decorated krathongs. The Loy Krathong festival is also associated with the start of vegetable carving.

The Thai tradition of Loy Kratong started off in Sukhothai, but is now celebrated throughout Thailand, with the festivities in Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya being particularly well known. In the northern part of Thailand, people celebrate the festival with "Kom Loi" as well. People usually create "Kom Loi" from a thin fabric and let the air inside so that "Kom Loi" can go up in the air like a balloon. This tradition is called "Yi Peng" meaning to celebrate goodness (tam-boon) in the 12th month in Thai lunar calendar. "Yi Peng" festival attracts many tourists both foreigner and Thai people from other parts of Thailand to join and see "Kom Loi" gos up in the air.

Loy Kratong coincides with the Lanna (northern Thai) festival known as "Yi Peng", which, due to a difference between the old Lanna calendar and the Thai calendar, is held on a full moon of the 2nd month of the Lanna calendar. A multitude of Lanna-style sky lanterns (khom fai or khom loi) are launched into the air where they resemble large flocks of giant fluorescent jellyfish gracefully floating by through the skies. These are believed to help rid the locals of troubles and are also taken to decorate houses and streets. The most elaborate Yi Peng celebrations can be seen in Chiang Mai, the ancient capital of the former Lanna kingdom. In the merging of the Yi Peng festival with Loy Krathong, now too thousands of people assemble to float the banana-leaf krathong onto the waterways of Chiang Mai at the same time, honouring the Goddess of Water.

Kelantan also has the same celebration, especially in the Tumpat area. The ministry in charge of tourism in Malaysia recognises it as an attraction for tourist. Many people visit the celebration each year.

About Me

Hi welcome to Tom & Nang’s blogger website.
I live in Texas with my wonderful Thai wife of 5+ years. I love taking photos and live in the country. The air is clean and not crowded like Dallas, Texas where I spent most of my younger life.
I saw John Kennedy on the last day he lived at the Dallas Love Field. I remember how this country was frozen in time for about 7 days after. I remember Robert Kennedy & Martin Luther King and remember seeing on TV how they died. Yes 911 shocked me just as much.
I have a very good life and enjoy my family and most people I meet. Hope you enjoy my blog which is my first blog and I am open to comments and suggestions.
Tom in Texas